Highway guard fence



Nmr. 15, 1938.. E. A. ROBERTSON l fi HIGHWAY GUARD EENCE Filed June 7, 1957 2 Sheets-Sheet l ffiiz EDWARD A. ROBERTSON Nov. 15, 1938. E. A. ROBERTSON HIGHWAY GUARD FENCE File d June 7, 1957 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 ME UP E DWARD A ROBERTSON Patented Nov. 15, 1938 a 2 135 710 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 2,136,710 HIGHWAY GUARD FENCE Edward A. Robertson, Western Springs, Ill., as signor to Clarl; J. Robertson, Brookfield, Ill.

Application June 7, 1937, Serial No. 146,725 12 Claims. (Cl. 256 1321) The present invention relates to simplified and permitting longitudinal shifting movement of the improved types of highway or road guard fences rail caused by the same being struck by a moving for use adjacent roads or highways at curves or vehicle or caused by the contraction or the expanat dangerous locations along the road. The imsion of the rail material due to temperature t proved guard fence is of a hinge supported rail changes.

*"10 by having the hinge supported rail act as a cushor at curves in the road, said guard fence includm ioning means to absorb impact shocks to obviate ing spaced posts and a continuous rail free from accidents and to prevent'and reduce damage to tension connected together by improved hinge the vehicle.

It is an object of this invention to provide an the like which are laced or connected together by it; improved type of lnghway guard fence wherein means of a heavy 601'] Ve t a y disposed and i 220 the hinge members of the fence to serve as shock means until all the play is taken up and then Another object of the invention is the conthe highway and accidentally strikes the guard struction of a highway guard fence wherein a confence. tinuous guard rail is mounted to be normally .Other and further important objects of this infree from tension by the use of a hinge supportvention will be apparent from the disclosure in ing connection between the continuous guard rail the specification and the drawings.

and the fence posts. The invention (in preferred forms) is illustrated It is a further object of this invention to pro in the drawings and hereinafter more fully devide a road guard fence including hinge supports scribed.

3,0 between the fence posts and a continuous rail to On the drawings: 3 provide a construction wherein the rail is free to Figure 1 is a fragmentary top plan view of a move to compensate for the expansion and the ighway guard fence embodying the principles of contraction of the rail metal due to temperature t is invention.

changes. Figure 2 is a fragmentary front elevational Another object of theinvention is the construc- View of the guard fence. 35 tion of a highway guard fence wherein a con- FigureB is an enlarged vertical sectional view tinuous rail 15 mounted without tension in front aken on l ne II o u e of intermediate posts and between end posts by Figure 4 is an enlarged top pl n V w f the p to provide an improved type of highway guard movement t nc Tail.

fence wherein th il, constructed out of rail Figure 5 is afragmentary sectional detail taken 4 plates, rail bars or cables, is supported imposition line of ur free from tension upon fence posts by means of i e 6 is a fragmentary detail View taken hinge coil units to provide a construction wherein on line VIVI of Figure 3. i r the rail; when contacted by a vehicle, carries the Figure 7 is a fragmentary front elevatlonal force to the hinge coil units which act to first view of a modified form of guard fence using take up the play and then act as shock absorbers. spaced rail cables or wires to form the fence rail. 50 Still another objectof the invention is the pro- Figure 8 is an enlarged top plan view of one vision of a road guard fence wherein ,a continuous of the end post constructions of the fence illusrail is supported on spaced posts by means of trated in Figure 1. hinge units, and wherein the ends of the rail are Figure 9 is an enlarged fragmentary horizontal i5 p sitioned to slidably project hrough end posts I detail section taken on line IX-IX of Figure 3.

Figure 10 is a top plan view of a modified form of end post construction for the guard fence when the fence rail is disposed longitudinally between the end posts and wherein the normal position of the hinge coil and the fence rail are illustrated in full line while the operation of said members is illustrated in dotted lines.

Figure 11 is a fragmentary side elevational view of the end post construction illustrated in Figure 10.

Figure 12 is another modified form of end wherein the end of the guard rail slidably projects through the end post between upper and lower reinforcing metal bands engaged on thepost.

a fragmentary top plan view of Figure 13 is an elevational view of themodified 7 form of end post shown in Figure 12.

As shown in the drawings: The reference numeral l indicates the shoulder of a concrete highway. Constructed upon the shoulder-l of the road adjacent the side of the highway is an improved guard fence adapted to be located at selected dangerous locations along the road or at road curves. The'improved highway guard fence is provided for the purpose of reducing the seriousness of accidents when vehicles are accidentally run off. of the road and plunge into contact with the guard fence. The improved highway guard rail when struck by a moving vehicle acts as a means for'reducing the seriousness of the accident 'by absorbing the shock in the rail member and in the supports for said rail member which supporting hinge coil construction and act as hinges until all the play is taken up after which act as shock absorbers. In the form of highway guardfence' illustrated in Figures 1 to 6 and in Figures 8 and 9 the fence comprises a pluralltyof spaced posts 2 each having rigidly secured thereon a. hingesupporting unit for hingedly supporting a continuous rail mechanism in position free from tension.

Each of the hinge supporting units comprises 'a post angle iron consisting of a mounting flange .31 having apertures therein for the reception'of mounting bolts 4 which project through the flange .3 and through the postsas'cle'arly illustrated in Figure3. Integrally formed at right angles to the angle flange 3 is an angle flange 5 provided with a row of apertures 6. Positioned opposite the postangle iron is a rail angle iron consisting of a mounting flange 1 and afiange 8 integrally connected therewith at right angles. The post and rail angle irons of each hinge unit are mounted in reverse relation with respect to one another and diagonally opposite as illustrated in Figure 4 to position theflanges 5 and 8 substantially opposite one another. The flange 8 of the rail angle iron is provided with a row of spaced apertures 9 which are staggered with respect to the apertures 6 in the 'post angle iron 5 as shown in Figure 3, for thereception of a heavy hinge coil H] which is of a spiralconstruc- .tion and is adapted to be screwed or threaded downwardly through the openings 6 and 9 to conneotthe angle irons. The lower end of the hinge coil is threaded downwardly until the end contacts the bottom portion ofthe angle flange .1 which acts as astop .to limit the downward movement of the hinge coil. The upper end of the hinge coil is bent downwardly to form a stop finger or hook H which is spaced a short distance from the flange 5 when the hinge coil is in its proper or lowermost position, as shown in Figures 5 and6.

the hinge coils post construction I rail with the The hinge units supported on the fence posts afford a means for supporting a rail unit free from tension. The rail unit is of a continuous construction comprising a plurality of rail plates or strips I2 constructed of sheet steel and arranged end to end in overlapping relation with the overlapping ends rigidly secured to the rail supporting flanges I by means of rivets l3 or other suitable means. The rail strips or plates 12 are thus rigidly connected one to another to form a continuous rail member which is supported by the angle members 1-8.

In the fence construction illustrated in Figures l and 2 it will be seen that the fence rail is free to move longitudinally with the contractiori or the expansion of the fence rail material due to temperature changes. The fence rail member,- being of continuous construction, is mounted so that it is not under tension. The angle members 1-8 which connect the continuous hinge coils in permit a longitudinal shifting movement of the continuous rail due to the hinge action of the coils between the rail and the fence posts. When an automobile accifence, the rail plates or strips l2 being resilient receive the shock and tend to transmit the same to the hinge coils which first act to swing or move with respect to the supporting flange members 5 of the post angle bars to take up the play and then act as shock absorbers to absorb the impact shocks. The hinge movement of the rail supports is clearly illustrated in dotted lines in Figure i which figure indicates that the apertured flange 8 first will slide on the coil H1 in one direction or the other and then will cause the coil to act as a hinge to swing into a dottedline "position depending on the direction from which the force may come.

The improved guard fence is of the shock absorbing type wherein hinge units connect the rail with the fence posts so that when automobiles strike the fence rail the shock is distributed throughout the members of the fence thereby reducing the seriousness of accidents. Y While the form of road guard fence in Figures 1 and 2 discloses a guard structed of strips ofsheet steel, it will, of course, be'understood that the rail may be constructed of other material such, for example, as wire cables I4 which are connected in spaced parallel relation as clearly illustrated in Figure 7 and are secured to the rail flanges 1 of the hinge units by means of staple bolts l5 or the like.

Referring to Figures 10 and 11, an end post construction is illustrated for use in a guard fence similar to that illustrated in Figures 1 and 2 but wherein the end'rail plate I6 continue past the last intermediate fence posts 2. The outer end of end rail plate I6 is provided with a row of apertures H to permit the loops of an end hinge coil 18 to be threaded therethrough. The end hinge coil la is also threaded through openings l9 provided in one of the flanges of an end post angle iron 20 which is rigidly secured to an end post 2| by means of bolts 22.

' In the modified form of fence construction using the end post support for the ends of the con tinuous rail as illustrated in Figures 10 and 11 both the hinge constructions of the intermediate post 2 and the end posts 2! act to support the continuous rail member in position free from normal tension and permit longitudinal shifting movement of the rail member when the same is accidentally impacted by automobiles or the like.

illustrated rail con-' A fence construction is thus provided wherein the resiliency of the rail; platesor strips first act to absorb part of the initial shock due to the impact after which the shockis distributed-to the coils l0 and I8 rail member, the apertured end of the end rail plate It may slide on the coil [8 or cause the coil to swing from the full-line position of Figure 10 toward the dottedline position.

Figures 12 and 13 illustrated another modified form of an arrangement for an end post construction for a guard fence combining the arrangement illustrated in Figures 1 and 2 but having end rail plates 24. Each of the end rail plates 24 is positioned so that the end portion thereof slidably projects through a slot 25 pro- Width of the end rail To reinforce the slotted upper end of the end post 26 steel reinforcing bands or collars 27 are engaged around the post 26 in spaced relation as clearly illustrated in Figure 13 to permit the end portion of the end rail member 24 to slidably project through the post slot between the upper and lower bands 21.

With the improved end post construction illustrated in Figures 12 and 13, the continuous fence rail is adapted to move longitudinally in one direction or the. other due to the impact of vehicles against the fence rail ordue to the contraction or the expansion of the rail member caused by temperature changes or the like.

It will, of course, be understood that various details of construction may be varied through a pose to limit the patent granted hereon otherwise than necessitated by the scope of the appended claims.

I claim as my invention:

1. A highway guard fence comprising a plurality of spaced posts, a continuous fence rail, and hinge coil units connecting the rail with said posts.

2. A road guard fence comprising a plurality of spaced posts, apertured angle members rigidly secured to said posts, a continuous rail, apertured angle members secured to said rail, and hinge coils threaded through the apertured angle members on said rail and on said posts for supporting the rail in position free from normal tension.

3. A highway guard fence comprising a pluand hinge coils applied to the rail unit.

5. A highway guard fence comprising a rail unit, a plurality of supporting posts, and hinge or hooked.

7. A highway guard unit comprising a pair of end posts, a rail unit disposed between the end posts, hinge coils connecting units with the end posts, a plurality of intermediate posts disposed to one side of the rail unit, connecting the intermediate posts to said rail unit.

8. A highway guard fence comprising a pair of end posts, a continuous rail unit disposed between the ends of the rail L unit and with the sides thereof for supporting the rail unit in position free from normal tension.

10. A highway guard fence comprising a pair of spaced slotted end posts, a rail unit disposed 'between the end posts with the ends of the rail a plurality of intermediate posts positioned to one side of the rail unit, and hinge coil units connecting the intermediate posts with intermediate portions of the rail unit to support the rail unit in position free from tension and longitudinally shiftable when subjected toimpact stresses or temperature changes.

12. A highway guard fence comprising a'pair of end posts, a rail unit shiftably mounted between the end posts, a plurality of intermediate posts mounted to one side of the rail unit and out of line with the end posts, and hinge coils connecting the rail unit at spaced points between the ends thereof with the intermediate posts.

EDWARD A. ROBERTSON. 

